Signs
by Animegirl1129
Summary: And that one singular comment, those six words, had just opened up a Pandora’s Box of questions… Will end GregSara.
1. Boogeymen At Bedtime

**-Signs-**

_**And that one question opened up a Pandora's Box… Characters Not Mine. ****

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**_

_**Chapter One: Boogeymen At Bedtime**_

Signs. He should have seen the signs. He should have realized it sooner. He should have long ago questioned the general principles of genetics. He should have…

One: She had unruly, dirty blonde hair, neither of which her parents' had ever had and it wasn't a commonality in either of their families.

Two: She despised country music with a burning passion.

Three: She came to him when Mr. Bear got a boo-boo, when she had a nightmare, when the boy who sat next to her at snack time in her pre-school class picked on her. Him.

And, one night during a particularly loud thunder he came to a stunning realization.

_"Uncle Greg!" the four year old wailed from the guest bedroom, __which might as well have been her own._

_He was there in a matter of seconds, sitting on the edge of the __bed. "What's wrong, Hailey?" he asked, watching a bolt of lightening __streak across the sky outside the window._

_"Nightmare…" Hailey whispered, clutching the bear he'd given to her __the day she was born for dear life._

_Greg pulled her into his arms, rocking the little girl until she'd __calmed down substantially. "How dare those boogeymen scare my __Hailey?" he said, leaning over to peer under the bed. "You evil __little chibi-chans! Shoo! This is a nightmare free zone!" he said, __knowing without asking that that's what her nightmare had been __about. It had been that way ever since Danny, the boy in her pre- __school class, had told her all about the 'boogeyman'._

_"I thought I was chibi-chan?" she pouted, a face she knew he __couldn't resist._

_He bit his lip in thought. "Yeah, but you're a good monster."_

_Hailey smiled, reaching out to him. "Sometimes," she whispered, __burying her head against his shoulder, her long dirty blonde hair __falling over her eyes. "I wish you were my daddy…" _

The words still echoed in his head, "**I wish you were my dad**…" he repeated to himself as he lay in his bed. "Maybe I am…"

Hailey Stokes, who he sometimes had trouble believing was actually a Stokes, could be his. His and Sara's. And that one singular comment, those six words, had just opened up a Pandora's Box of questions…

**

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_I was going to make this a one-shot but it's not working out that way. I will shed some light on the situation on upcoming chapters, so until then, Review! Oh, and the first person to guess what inspired this... I will update whatever story they want me too, just a little initiative to keep me going!_**


	2. That's My Hailey

**Signs**

_**And that one question opened up a Pandora's Box… Characters Not Mine.

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**_

_Chapter Two: That's My Hailey_

"_Are you okay?" Greg asked stepping into the locker room, Sara was sitting on the floor, her back against the bench running down the middle of the aisle. _

_She shook her head. "That case… How could anyone do that to a little kid?" she said, bringing a hand up to wipe away her tears. _

_Greg sat down beside her. "I know, I know, it's just cruel, but it happens and we get to make them pay." He said, his hand resting on her shoulder. "It's all we can do."_

_The case they'd been working a double for had taken a toll on both of them and the guy who had set his daughter on fire because she knocked his beer over was now sitting in lock-up, awaiting a court trial he didn't deserve. _

"_Thanks, Greg," she sighed, looking up at him after her tears had subsided completely. _

"_No problem," he replied, offering her a hand. "What do you say we go get a drink?" _

_She nodded. "That sounds good."_

_Apparently they'd had several drinks and had wound up back at Greg's and the alcohol had temporarily fried the logical parts of their brains and they had ended up in a tangle of arms legs and blankets. _

_Only, when Greg awoke the next morning, he was alone again._

"Uncle Greg," Hailey whispered, tugging lightly on his arm the next morning. "Uncle Greg, wake up!"

"Huh?" Greg asked, trying to pull himself out of his dream and back into reality. He yawned, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "What's up, Hailey?" he asked, watching her climb onto his bed, sitting down on his stomach, reaching over to pet Dax, his golden retriever who was asleep at the end of the bed. She was still in her pajamas, polka dotted purple pants and an old Eagles t-shirt he always let her use when she stayed. It hung down past her knees and he was surprised it was still in one piece since it was from 1985. ( I love my Eagles Shirt…)

"Can we go see the ducks before Mommy comes to get me?" she asked.

Greg nodded, "Sure, honey. After breakfast."

Hailey grinned. "YAY!"

"Can Dax come?"

"Yes, he can. Now, go change first." He told her, pulling himself out of bed as she raced out of the room.

After a failed attempt at making waffles, they settled for cereal and following a brief Lucky Charms war, and getting Dax on a leash, they headed out.

Greg had no idea how the small pond survived the scorching desert summers, but it was always there, and several ducks often flocked to it, the park adjoining it also made it particularly fun.

"Race you to the swings, Uncle Greg!" Hailey said, taking off toward the swing set several yards off.

As always, he let her win, Dax trailing at his heels. "Ah, darn. You beat me again!" he said, sweeping her into his arms and spinning her around before setting her down again, only to start tickling her.

She giggled uncontrollably, rolling around trying to escape his attack. "Stop!" she laughed, smiling, the golden retriever barking occasionally.

"Only if you say it!" Greg smiled, pausing briefly.

"Nuh-uh!" she said, still laughing, tears rolling down her cheeks.

He resumed tickling her to death. "Say it!" he repeated.

"Okay!" Hailey giggled. "You're the greatest CSI ever!" she exclaimed, having played this game before.

"That's my Hailey." He smiled, putting her on his shoulders as they walked toward the duck pond. "You want to go for ice cream after this?" he asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please!" she said. "But Mommy said no desert before dinner and we just had breakfast."

Greg smiled. "I won't tell if you don't."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yay!"

"Now," he said, handing her the week old bread he'd been saving for this occasion. "Go feed the ducks."

She took it, heading toward a few ducks. "Mmkay."

Greg stood a few feet away, watching her as she was not that far away from the water. There were only a few other people there, one of which was an older woman who was watching three young boys. "You have a beautiful daughter. She looks just like you." She commented, standing a few feet away from him.

"Ugh…" he smiled. "Thanks."

Greg was starting to believe Hailey really was his daughter. After all, the evidence never lies, and the evidence was five feet away from him.

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_**Okay, no one has managed to guess yet, though I will say it's not 'Transitions' by singingstarryknights. I can see why you guys would think that, but no, and it's not fanfiction related… And Eric Szmanda does have a golden retriever named Dax…. I have no idea why I know that… Hmm…**_

**_Hope you enjoy this chapter. Review! I'll update soon! Oh, and I edited a few things in the first chapter._**


	3. Blue Rasberry IceCream

**-Signs- **

_**And that one comment, those six words, opened up a Pandora's Box of questions… Characters aren't mine.

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**_

"Bye, Uncle Greg!" Hailey waved from the backseat of Sara's Tahoe.

She and Greg had gone out for ice cream following their visit to the park. The only evidence remaining was the empty Baskin Robbins cups Dax was licking clean of any trace amounts of ice cream they'd missed. "Bye!" he called back as they drove away.

"That's the last time I get blue raspberry ice cream when trying to hide the fact that we're eating ice cream…" Greg said to himself, walking into his bathroom. He and Hailey had spent the last ten minutes trying to get the blue out of their mouths.

A thought came to mind and he went and got a Ziploc bag from the kitchen, depositing the two toothbrushes in separate baggies.

"I'll know by the end of shift tonight," he said, quickly scribbling his name on one bag and hers on the other so as not to mix them up.

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"Mia!" Greg blurted, walking into the DNA lab on his break. "I thought you were off tonight?"

She looked up, "Ugh, no. Hodges and Bobby are off tonight…"

Greg bit his lip; this might not be as easy as he thought. "You look like you could use a break. There's a fresh pot of Blue Hawaiian in the break room."

"What are you up to?"

"What makes you think I'm up to anything?" he replied, his hand closing over the two toothbrushes in his pocket.

Mia raised an eyebrow. "You just offered to share your sacred Blue Hawaiian coffee…?"

"Right." Greg said, sighing sheepishly. "Is there any way I can get you out of here for half an hour?"

"Sure," Mia replied, grinning. "Just run all of that before you leave this room." She said, gesturing to the mountain of samples that were piled on the table behind her. "Grissom. Hot case."

He shrugged. "Deal…"

"Pleasure doing business with you," she said, standing up and removing her latex gloves.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he said, rushing to the chair that sat in front of the computer screen once she was out of the room. He quickly pulled out the toothbrushes, beginning the process of comparing their DNA.

Thirty three minutes later the machine running his samples beeped and printed out a sheet of paper, he set the last of Mia's samples running before he picked it up, knowing he'd promised Mia to have it all going before he left and if that paper said Hailey was his, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep himself there long enough to do that.

And, with that, he picked up the paper.

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_**And, I am going to be insanely evil and stop right there... Mwhahaha!**_

**_No one's guessed it yet, though you have determined that it'd not 'Transitions' by signingstarryknights, and that it's not fanfic related. And my brother is sitting here laughing because he knows what it is… -hits brother over head- Oh, and yes, I know that in real life DNA analysis on those samples would take a lot longer. We have yet to cover the exact time frame in my forensics writing class yet…Anyway, I'll update again soon, because even I am not cruel enough to leave you on that cliffie for long. Review!_**


	4. Hot Case

**-Signs-**

_**And that one singular comment, those six words, had opened a Pandora's Box of questions. Characters not mine.

* * *

**_

_Chapter Four: Hot Case_

"Hey, Greggo," Nick's voice in the doorway temporarily drew his attention away from the paper.

Greg quickly shoved the paper in his pocket, not wanting Nick to see it. How would he explain that? 'Oh, I thought I'd just check and make sure Hailey was really yours…Just in case,' Yeah, That would go over well.

"We need you in the field." The older man said, tapping his foot impatiently.

He shrugged, knowing he wouldn't be able to chance looking at the results with Nick around. "Yeah, I'm coming."

Nick nodded, following Greg out of the room.

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"You have got to be kidding me…?" Greg exhaled sharply. "You dragged me out here to process an entire football field? By myself?"

Nick and Warrick nodded. "I called the body and Nick's taking the stands." Warrick said.

Greg rolled his eyes, setting his kit down in the grass beside him. "You do know I'm watching Hailey again tonight, right?"

Nick looked up. "I thought Sara was off tonight."

"No," Greg replied. "Grissom called her in to help him with his hot case. She asked me to watch her again, figuring you'd be pulling a double again." He'd found out that Nick was spending more time at the lab than Sara used to when she'd first come to Vegas.

Nick glared at him. "Well, leave when you have to…" he said walking up to the stairs to the metal stands while Warrick headed back to his car.

After several minutes of bagging and tagging the random pieces of garbage that were lying on the large field after a football hazing that had left a boy dead not three hours ago, had he finally watched Nick walk into the broadcasting booth at the top of the stairs.

He took his opportunity to pull the piece of paper out of his pocket, quickly reading over the paper several times.

"Nick, I'm headed out!" he yelled up to him. Only after Nick had acknowledged this did he leave, knowing he had to make a stop before going to pick up Hailey.

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"Sara."

She looked up from the case file she was looking over. "Greg?"

He stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He did not appear to be in a good mood.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Wordlessly, Greg handed her the paper that he'd had clutched in his fist the entire drive over.

"What am I looking at?"

"I'll give you a hint. One of them is Hailey, the other is _not_ Nick." Greg huffed and walked out of the room.

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_**Okay, I was extremely tempted to leave this for tomorrow and actually be conscious for the cook-out, college thing and vet appointment I have to go to tomorrow, but I said I wouldn't leave you on a cliffie and I didn't. So, enjoy! And another hint. There is one line in the first chapter, if you type it in google it will tell you what inspired me, it will be painfully obvious. Review!**_


	5. Illogical Reasoning

**-Signs-**

_**And that one comment, those six words opened up a Pandora's Box of questions. Characters not mine.****

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** _

Chapter 5: Illogical Reasoning

Greg stormed into the locker room, quickly putting in the combination to the his locker and slamming it open, quickly trading his vest and field kit for his jacket and then slamming it shut, the sound making Sara flinch from the doorway.

"Greg…"

He wheeled around to face her. "You can't tell me that it never crossed your mind that she wasn't Nick's." he said.

"You… weren't supposed to find out…" she said quietly, sitting down on the bench in front of her own locker.

His jaw dropped. "You… you knew? You knew for four years and you didn't tell me that I had a daughter?"

Sara remained quiet, her head in her hands.

Greg turned to leave the room but she stopped him. "Where are you going?"

"To pick up our daughter." He replied, making a mental not that it didn't sound the least bit weird to hear himself say that.

Sara grabbed his arm. "You can't tell anyone! Please, don't tell anyone." She begged him.

He pulled away. "Are you mad?"

"No! If Nick finds out…"

Greg scoffed. "Maybe he already knows, maybe that's why he hasn't been coming home." He reasoned, running a hand through his hair.

She shook her head. "No, he would have said something…"

"You expect him to walk up to you and ask you if you got drunk and slept with me while he was in Texas visiting his family while you were engaged? Yeah," he laughed. "That's a normal conversation…"

He watched her bite her lip, apparently realizing now how irrational her train of thought had been.

Again, Greg turned to walk out of the room. "I have to go pick Hailey up and take her to her horse back riding lesson."

"No," Sara said, repeating her earlier motions and grabbing his arm. "We need to talk about this without… without advertising it to the entire lab." She glared towards the door where a few people had started to gather. They wisely dispersed.

"Okay…" Greg sighed, crossing his arms over his chest to dissuade another attempt at preventing him from leaving. "Join us."

"I can't. Hot case, remember?" she prompted him. "That's why I asked you to pick her up in the first place."

He shrugged, slightly calmer now. "Then come over after your hot case cools down. Maybe by then I'll be sane enough to think straight." He headed toward the door again, but turned around. "Oh, and pick up some blue raspberry ice cream."

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_**Okay, another chapter down, and a little plot twist: Sara knew. No one has yet to guess what inspired me. I know for a fact that if you google the right line in Chapter one it will bring up a result and it will be painfully obvious. I'll update again soon! Review!**_


	6. What Does That Tell You?

**-Signs-**

**_---That one comment, _those six words**_**, had opened a Pandora's Box of question--- Characters not mine, though Hailey is.****

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_Chapter 6: _

"Hailey," Greg smiled, looking through the rear view mirror at the little girl. "You were amazing on Ghost tonight."

She smiled up at him, "Isn't he pretty, Uncle Greg?"

Her riding teacher had finally let her ride Ghost, a slightly bigger pony at the stables that Hailey had absolutely adored since she saw him. "Very." He replied. "And guess what movie I got for us to watch tonight?"

"Spirit?" she asked, hopefully.

Greg nodded and she made a sound that sounded somewhere between a squeak and a 'Yay!' He laughed at his daughter as he pulled into his apartment complex, surprised to find Sara's car already there.

"Come on, sweetie." He said, lifting her onto his shoulders before walking toward the door.

Hailey giggled, clinging to his neck.

"Duck!" he said, making sure she'd clear the doorway anyway as he walked into his apartment. "Okay, time to get down."

"Aw…" she pouted, smiling when he flipped her over his head and caught her in his arms. "Mommy, what are you doing here?" she asked, spotting Sara sitting at the kitchen table, Dax dtirring frm his sleep on the floor in front of her.

Sara smiled, picking up her little girl. "I'm going to hang out with you and Uncle Greg tonight, okay?"

"YAY!" Hailey grinned, running into the guest room to put her riding boots and helmet away and get cleaned up, the golden retriever also tagging along.

"I didn't think you'd be here that fast." Greg said, sitting down opposite Sara.

She nodded. "Neither did I, but our hot case turned out to be nothing. Just some kids being idiots. I picked up a pizza, too. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, that's what I was going to get anyway." He said. "How'd you get in?"

She reached in her pocket, producing a silver key. "You gave it to me six years ago."

"Oh," he said sheepishly as Hailey came running back out, sitting in the other chair. He lifted up the lid of the pizza box. "Yum, half veggie for you, half green pepper and onion for us."

Sara nodded, taking into account all of the things Hailey and Greg seemed to have in common. She smiled, watching the two of them as she ate her pizza.

"Did you get the ice cream?" Greg asked.

Cringing, Sara nodded. "Yeah, though I have no idea how you can eat it…"

Greg stood up, going to the freezer to get the ice cream then to get bowls and spoons from the cabinets. "Easy, watch!" he said, fixing three bowls. Greg and Hailey smiled, quickly inhaling the blue goop.

"That's gross," Sara stuck her tongue out.

"No, Mommy." Hailey said. "It's yummy."

Sara looked over at Greg with her 'I am going to kill you, I suggest you start running' look.

"Hailey, what do you say we go watch that movie now?" Greg said, trying to avoid any further risk of bodily harm from Sara.

"Okay!" she smiled, setting her bowl in the sink and sitting next to Dax on the floor. Greg and Sara followed.

After watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, brushing teeth until any trace of blue was gone and changing into pajamas; Hailey was finally in bed, waiting for Greg to tuck her in.

"Hurry up, Uncle Greg!" she said sleepily, clinging to Mr. Bear.

He smiled stepping into the room he might as well paint pink and decorate with horses, she used it so much. "Goodnight my Chibi-chan." He smiled, kissing her forehead like he did every time she stayed with him. "And no boogeymen shall dare bother you tonight."

"Night, Uncle Greg! Night Mommy! Love you!" Hailey yawned, snuggling into the blankets.

"Night baby." Sara said, leaning against the doorway.

Greg stepped out, flipping on the nightlight and shutting the door after he stepped out. "Okay, you wanted to talk, talk." He said, rather apprehensive now.

"You're really good with her." Sara said, still staring at the closed door.

Greg sighed, sitting down on the sofa where he had been before. "When did you know she was mine?" he asked.

Sara sighed; so much for small talk. "When I found out I was pregnant I knew it was yours." She admitted.

"You knew that long? Why didn't you come to me? You know I would have been there for you – both of you. I'd die for either of you." He said, keeping his voice as quiet as he could.

Sara sat down on the other couch, opposite him. "I was in love with Nick when I found out."

"_Was_?"

She nodded. "I realized, thinking back on our marriage, it's falling apart, it has been for a while now." She shrugged, her head resting in her hands.

Greg hung his head. "Do you know how many times in the last four and a half years I wished she was mine? Millions, Sara, millions. And the entire time she was…"

"I'm sorry, Greg." She said. "Really I am. But Nick-"

"What about Nick? You're here now, telling me all this, and Nick is pulling doubles to avoid going home, what does that tell you?" Greg ranted. Sara remained silent. "I'm going to bed, you can go home to your empty house or you can crash on the couch. Whichever you want." He said, disappearing into his room.

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_**Okay, that was pretty long. Time for another hint… I didn't think it would be this difficult. The phrase you have to type in google is really easy to identify if you look at the A/N at the beginning of every chapter… Review! Think: What six words is it referring to?**_


	7. Confrontations

**-Signs-**

**That one comment, those six words_, had opened a Pandora's Box of question--- Characters not mine, though Hailey is. _**

Chapter 7:

The front door slammed open at seven in the morning, a loud, resounding 'Boom!' echoing through the house. Dax, immediately in attack mode, pounced on the intruder, knocking him to the ground, growling ferociously. (My German Shepard has done this to me before… Such fun that is… Walking into a hallway at three in the morning only to be tackled by some big blob in a dark room…)

"What the hell was that?" Greg scrambled into the room, tripping over his own feet in his rush to figure out what was going on.

The squeak in the background got his attention. "Daddy? What are you doing here?" A sleepy eyes Hailey stared at the man lying on the floor, still pinned under Dax. "Are we having a slumber party?"

Sara, who was sitting on the couch attempting to stop hyperventilating from the shock of what had just occurred, quickly rushed to her daughter, sweeping the four year old into her arms.

"Dax. Down boy!" Greg pried the golden retriever from his co-worker, shooing him out of the room. "Nick, what are you doing here? Have you heard of knocking?"

The Texan glared pointedly at the two adults. "We need to talk. Now."

Greg nodded, taking Hailey from Sara. "It's time to go back to sleep, Hailey, baby." He told her, Dax tagging along as well, carrying her back to her room.

A few moments later she was out again, Greg emerging from the room. Nick and Sara had taken to competing in a glaring contest and were pretty far into the battle before they noticed his presence.

"Are you cheating on me?" Nick growled, staring at Sara.

"No! Are you? Or are you just working double to avoid me for fun?" She retaliated.

Greg flinched, the wrath of Sara had been activated.

"Care to explain this, then?" He handed Greg the crumpled of piece of paper that he was sure he'd still had in his pocket.

"Ugh…" The younger man found himself at a loss for words. He knew Nick wasn't typically a violent person. Though, there had been exceptions, and he was completely sure that this would qualify as one. There was no competition. He'd be dead, squashed, and Nick knew how to hide the body. "Nicky…"

"No. Don't. Tell me exactly what that paper says, Greg." He warned, his eyes darkening substantially, his accent growing stronger by the second. Before he could, however, Nick snatched the paper away . "Hailey Stokes. Greg Sanders. Match found. That about sums it up, doesn't it, Greggo?"

"Nick…" Sara tried to stop the two before CSI ended up processing the scene.

Though Greg seemed to be spared for the moment, the Texan returned his attention to Sara. "She's Greg's isn't she?"

She looked away, down the hallway, nodding. "Yes."

"When?"

"When you were out of town." Greg stated. "It wasn't supposed to happen, Nick. And it never happened again."

"Why should I believe you?" The other man turned again, glaring daggers at the newer CSI. "I'm gone, Sara. I don't think I can stay in Vegas. I'm gone…"

Sara looked up quickly. "Nick… you can't just leave… Hailey…"

"I'll always love Hailey. But, right now, I can't be here." He stormed out of the apartment, somehow the quiet click of the front door louder than the slam it had made when he'd entered.

"Where's Daddy going?" Hailey was once again hovering in the hallway, gripping Mr. Bear in one hand and Dax's collar in the other, tears in her chocolate eyes.

**Sorry, about m lack of updates. And sorry it's not very long...-Watched mob with pitchforks slowly back away- Phew… XD … Aside from my recent Nick/Greg obsession I've been buried in schoolwork and finals. But, the semesters over now, finally. I had to get Nicky out of the way for a while, lest I subconsciously slip into Greg leaving Sara for Nick… which I doubt any of you would actually care to read… lol… I'll stop rambling now and post. Oh, and the competition's still in place, as well. Enjoy!!!**


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